Colorado had quite a year in 2018. As 2019 rolls in, we're looking back at the state's most impactful stories of the year.
January 2018: The shooting death of Deputy Heath Gumm
On Jan. 24, Adams County Sheriff Deputy Heath Gumm was shot and killed by a suspect he was looking for after a reported assault.
Deputy Gumm's death came just weeks after a man shot multiple officers and killed Douglas County Deputy Zack Parrish in the early morning hours of New Year's Eve 2017.
February: Colorado sends more Olympic athletes to PyeongChang than any other state
Team USA had a record 242 athletes headed to the 2018 Winter Olympics, and 31 of them listed Colorado as their residence.
These athletes competed in freestyle and cross country skiing, ice hockey, snowboarding events, speed skating, bobsled racing and figure skating.
March: An inmate escaped from Denver Health
On March 19, a Denver jail inmate escaped custody after being brought to Denver Health Medical Center. The man, Mauricio Venzor-Gonzalez, had a scheduled appointment. He had been injured during a shootout with police months before the escape.
He was using crutches when he was brought to the hospital, but, according to police records, he dropped the “crutches and ran toward the gate and began to climb.”
Hours after he escaped, Denver police officers chased an SUV they believed Venzor-Gonzalez occupied. Venzor-Gonzalez was not in the vehicle. At the end of the chase, officers shot and killed Steven Nguyen and wounded a passenger.
Venzor-Gonzalez would not be captured again until August.
April: Thousands of teachers rallied at the state capitol for better pay and education funding
Colorado teachers rallied outside the state capitol in April to demand protection for their pensions, better pay overall and more funding for classrooms.
Dozens of school districts cancelled classes across the state as teachers told of the financial burdens that come along with low pay.
One teacher, Sarah Buck, told 9NEWS that much of her income "goes to supplies for my kids."
Then, on April 30, Colorado lawmakers introduced a “Red Flag Law” that would aim to remove guns from someone who is believed to be in a mental health crisis.
The law proposed would have allowed household members or law enforcement officers to ask a judge for a temporary restraining order for someone who is considered an “extreme risk.”
The Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock supported the bill, and said he thought that if something like that would have been available, it could save law enforcement officers's lives.
May: 9News investigates why a year passed before police found a missing man dead in his own home
More than a year passed before the Denver Police Department found a missing man, Chuck Frary, dead in his own living room.
9Wants to Know found the effort to find the missing man dragged on for more than a year in the midst of miscommunication between city agencies and a lack of preparedness to handle what they describe as Denver's worst hoarding case on record.
RELATED: BLAME podcast: Paralysis by analysis
Then, on May 11, a pilot died when a small plane crashed near a neighborhood in Douglas County.
The pilot was the only person on board the plane.
Debris from the crash fell into a home and wedged into the living room wall of a house, but no one inside the home was injured.
June: Record-breaking wildfires consume Colorado
The 416 Fire started on June 1 near Durango and continued to burn for more than a month.
The Spring Fire began June 27 and became the third largest in Colorado history, burning 107,627 acres as of June 29.
One man, 52-year-old Jesper Jorgensen, was arrested on arson charges related to the Spring Fire. The fire destroyed more than 100 residences.
July: A sinkhole swallows a car, one dies in flash flood
A woman, 32-year-old Rachael Haber, died after being stuck in a basement that flooded during a flash flood in Englewood in late July.
Haber did not live in the basement apartment, but was watching a friend’s cat, according to Englewood police.
Then, Englewood residents were shocked by a massive sinkhole that swallowed one woman’s car on West Oxford Avenue near Santa Fe.
Ashley Marisch said she likely wouldn’t be alive if a stranger hadn’t told her to get out of the car just before it was consumed by the pothole.
August: A mother and her two young daughters are reported missing; Chris Watts confesses to killing his wife
On Aug. 15, Chris Watts, the husband of then-missing woman Shanann Watts and father of the couple’s two children, Celeste and Bella, agreed to a polygraph test related to the whereabouts of his wife and daughters.
Later that day, after Watts was told he did not “pass” the polygraph, Watts would speak to his father. He told his father he killed Shanann, but did not say he killed his daughters.
Later that day, he would tell police where he hid the bodies of his wife and daughters.
Watts pleaded guilty to the murder of all three and was sentenced to life in prison without parole on Nov. 19.
RELATED: Coverage: The Chris Watts plea, sentence and the murders of Shanann, Bella and Celeste Watts
RELATED: ‘You’re an evil monster:’ Chris Watts sentenced for deaths of pregnant wife, two young daughters
September: Hottest days on-record in Denver
Denver was hit with a serious heat wave in September.
Two days in a single week broke the daily high-temperature records and an 8-day streak of highs in the 90s broke the record for the month.
October: After years of investigating deadly helicopter crashes, the U.S. Senate passes a law to increase safety
The Federal Aviation Administration will require crash-resistant fuel systems on helicopters, more than three years after a deadly helicopter crash in Frisco, Colo.
9Wants to Know investigated the lack of crash-resistant fuel tanks in helicopters across the country and found some tanks were prone to rupturing after otherwise survivable helicopter crashes.
On Oct. 3, the United States Senate passed the FAA reauthorization bill that now mandates helicopter manufacturers to include a crash-resistant fuel system in all newly built helicopters.
November: Voters change who is control in Colorado house across the state
More women were elected or re-elected to the United States Congress than ever before, and the “women wave” was reflected in Colorado politics too.
Nearly 1.3 million women voted in the Colorado mid-term election.
Democrats took control of the Colorado senate and maintained their hold on the state house and governor’s mansion.
RELATED: Colorado state Senate turns blue
RELATED: Democrat Jared Polis defeats Republican Walker Stapleton to become Colorado's next governor
December: After a disappointing season, the Denver Broncos fire head coach
After back-to-back losing seasons, the Broncos fired head coach Vance Joseph on Dec. 31.
This was the first time since 1971-72 the Broncos had two losing seasons in a row.
